Sometimes when you’re fishing, that last extra cast really pays off.
A.J. Klein, of New Castle, Delaware, can attest to this after landing an 11-pound northern-strain largemouth bass to establish a new state record.
The lunker was caught over the weekend at Wagamons Pond near Milton. It breaks the previous record, a 10-pound, 10-ounce largemouth also caught at Wagamons, in 2012.
Fishing had been slow for Klein, 36, and his friend, Joe Lattis, They had spent four hours on Lattis’ boat and teamed to catch only one small bass and a yellow perch, before giving up.
But Klein made one last cast, to the center of the pond, and began to bounce his jig during the retrieve.
The angler explained to Wired2Fish: "I was slow rolling a Bleeding Shad Strike King Premier Plus spinnerbait, letting it drop and bounce along on the bottom. On one of the drops the fish hit. It was a subtle hit, and I set the hook and thought I was snagged. Two seconds later my line dropped, and I had a crazy fight on my hands. It lasted for 2 minutes.”
The fish, kept alive in a live-well on the boat, was weighed at a local tackle shop and certified as a record by a Delaware Fish and Wildlife representative. It was then set free.
Said Klein: "The health of that beautiful beast was Joe and I's primary concern through the whole process Joe has taught me almost everything I know about bass fishing. He is my mentor and my good luck fishing buddy!"
For the sake of comparison, the International Game Fish Association lists as the all-tackle world record two 22-pound, 4-ounce largemouth bass caught in Geporgia in 1932, and in Japan in 2009. But they were Florida-strain bass, which reach much larger sizes than northern-strain bass.
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